Binatone Carrera X430 Review

Binatone Carrera is a subsidiary of Binatone and has offices across most of the Northern hemisphere and headquarters in Hong Kong. In their own words, they have been bringing innovations to consumers around the world for over 50 years.

The X430 is a compact unit with a 4.3 inch TFT LCD screen. This is one of the cheapest devices to have the wide screen and would put it right up there with the Clarion MAP670 at £100 less out of the pocket, however all the features included in the Clarion come as optional extras in the Binatone so it falls short on functions and features.

What you get in the box is the unit itself, a stylus, car mount, car charger and a USB cable for uploads. It is preloaded with maps of UK and Ireland, but almost everything else is extra.

Navigation software is from Binatone Navigator and the GPS chipset is SiRF Atlas III. The batteries are 1450 mAH li-polymer with a stand-by time when fully charged of 5 hours. This translates to 3 hours on full operation though.

The unit is nicely designed and slim at only 19 mm, with a width of 127 mm and height of 85 mm it weighs 200 grams. A SD memory slot can take cards up to 2 GB and can be used for photo and document viewing.

Additional maps are available on SD card for Europe and North America, and you can buy a traffic pack with a TMC Antenna and installation kit and a travel pack which includes an AC adaptor and carrying case. A MP3 player, MP4 player and Bluetooth hands-free connectivity are all optional extras.

As far as the navigational operation is concerned, the Binatone Carrera X430 does have some sterling qualities. With European mapping (supplied by Navteq / Tele Atlas depending where you are) comes a multi-lingual interface and literally millions of POIs (points of interest) including speed camera alerts (not supported in all counties), restaurants and petrol stations. The anti-reflective touchscreen is bright and very clear and the unit itself has a rubberized coating to save it from scratches and dints.

This is a very portable and stylish unit with a simple interface - the touchscreen is big enough to use your finger as a pointing device if you are not keen on having the stylus permanently on hand and the maps are shown in both 2D and 3D.

As a basic model sat nav it performs in tests as well as can be expected - some glitches, but nothing major. The main complaints come from the hardware. Battery life has not been as good as claimed and the car mount did not hold up to bumpy roads very well which of course means a bumpy view.

Not having a MP3 or MP4 player feature did not detract from this unit being able to do what it was purchased for, but integrated TMC would have been nice.